Statement

2020

IHRA Chair’s Statement on the attack at Hohe Weide Synagogue in Hamburg

IHRA Chair Ambassador Michaela Küchler condemns the attack at Hohe Weide Synagogue in Hamburg, expressing solidarity with the city’s Jewish community.

IHRA Chair Ambassador Michaela Küchler states, “The news of yesterday’s attack on a Hamburg synagogue left me with a deep feeling of unease. The IHRA stands in solidarity with the Jewish community in Hamburg and wishes the victim a speedy recovery.

“This is, as German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas rightly pointed out, unfortunately not a one-off case. One year after the attack in Halle, we see that the threat to Germany’s Jewish community remains. Beyond this recent attack in Hamburg, the rise in antisemitic incidents, both in Germany and beyond, reveal a worrying trend where people, radicalized and filled with hate, feel increasingly emboldened to act upon dangerous ideas. These actions pose a threat not only to our Jewish communities, but to all of society. A society in which antisemitism grows is one in which its core principles are under attack.”